College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

University of California-Irvine: Rankings, Admissions, Cost & Majors

939 awards Ranking Badges
Fair Price Value for Your Money
29% Acceptance Rate

University of California-Irvine is a public institution in Irvine, California enrolling 30,197 undergraduates. It accepts 29% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 87%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #69 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 1%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.

Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.

How Is University of California-Irvine Ranked?

University of California-Irvine ranks #69 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 1%.

#69 Best Colleges in Nation
#12 Best Colleges in CA
University of California-Irvine ranking badge

2027 Rankings

College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.

University of California-Irvine was awarded 939 badges in the 2027 rankings.

Overall Quality

University of California-Irvine is ranked #69 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation.

Within the state, University of California-Irvine holds the #12 spot on the Best Colleges in California ranking.

See all of the rankings for University of California-Irvine.

Is It Hard to Get Into University of California-Irvine?

29% Acceptance Rate
31% Of Accepted Are Women

Acceptance Rate

University of California-Irvine has a very low acceptance rate of 29%, making it one of the most selective out of all the colleges and universities in the nation. It’s probably a good idea to apply to other schools in addition to University of California-Irvine just in case you don’t make the cut.

Learn more about University of California-Irvine admissions.

What Is the Student-to-Faculty Ratio at University of California-Irvine?

19 to 1 Student to Faculty
83% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

The student to faculty ratio at University of California-Irvine is 19 to 1, which is high when compared to the national average of 15 to 1. This may indicate that some of your classes will be larger in size than they would be at other schools. However, upper level classes will probably be smaller.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at University of California-Irvine is 83%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  83 out of 100
0
100

What Are the Graduation and Retention Rates at University of California-Irvine?

94% Freshmen Retention
87% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

The freshmen retention rate of 94% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like University of California-Irvine enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.

Freshmen Retention Rate  94 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at University of California-Irvine for first-time, full-time students is 87%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  87 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at University of California-Irvine.

How Diverse Is University of California-Irvine?

30,197 Undergraduate Students
72.7% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
56.1% Percent Women

In the current academic year, there are 30,197 undergraduates at University of California-Irvine.

Get more detailed information on the diversity at University of California-Irvine.

How Much Does University of California-Irvine Cost?

$17,140 Net Price
20% Take Out Loans
$21,336 Total Student Loans

The average net price of University of California-Irvine is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.

Net Price by Income Group for University of California-Irvine

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$8,123 $9,313 $11,642 $15,164 $30,546

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of University of California-Irvine, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At University of California-Irvine, approximately 20% of students took out student loans averaging $5,334 a year. That adds up to $21,336 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 2.3%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for University of California-Irvine.

How Much Do U of California-Irvine Graduates Earn?

$80,735 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost

Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from University of California-Irvine with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $80,735 in their early years. That’s great news for University of California-Irvine students since it is 64% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. Average Salary for University of California-Irvine Graduates

See which majors at University of California-Irvine make the most money.

Where Is University of California-Irvine Located?

California State
30,197 Undergraduate Students
Large City Campus Setting

University of California-Irvine is an public institution found in Irvine, California. Irvine is a great location for students who prefer city over country life. Get more details about the location of University of California-Irvine.

Location of University of California-Irvine

Get in touch with University of California-Irvine can be found below.

Contact Details
Address: 501 Aldrich Hall, Irvine, CA 92697
Phone: 9498245011
Website: www.uci.edu/
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Irvine
Facebook: www.facebook.com/UCIrvine
Twitter: twitter.com/ucirvine

What Majors Does University of California-Irvine Offer?

23 Majors With Completions
23,454 Undergraduate Degrees

In the most recent reporting year, students from 23 majors graduated from University of California-Irvine. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular Majors Completions Average Salary of Graduates
Multi-Disciplinary Studies 11,727 NA
Computer Science 860 $70,796
General Biology 841 $20,595
Child Development & Psychology 731 $27,585
Business Administration & Management 636 $57,332
Criminology 468 $31,366
Computer Engineering 449 $68,056
Public Health 402 $31,566
Managerial Economics 363 $40,611
Political Science & Government 355 $29,631

Learn more about the majors offered at University of California-Irvine along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Does University of California-Irvine Offer Online Classes?

42% Take At Least One Class Online
1% Take All Classes Online

12,609 students took at least one online class at University of California-Irvine.

Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.

Learn more about online learning at University of California-Irvine.

Interested in comparing University of California-Irvine? Match them up using College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.

Notes and References

Footnotes

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

References

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
Graduate Programs

Compare Your School Options